Visualization of Network Members Based on Location and Direction

ABSTRACT

Methods, devices and systems enable efficient organizations of group communications on a mobile device. The mobile device may be configured to receive location information from other mobile devices in a communication system, determine the current location and orientation of the mobile device, determine directions and distances from the mobile device to each of the other mobile devices, and generate a first-person perspective and/or top-down perspective display showing relative locations of the other mobile devices. Other multiple mobile devices may be represented in the display as images (e.g., icons, avatars, directional indicators, etc.). The display may provide a user interface to enable a user to quickly organize other mobile devices into groups and initiate group communications with some of the other mobile devices. The mobile device may be configured to group the displayed images into one or more communication units and establish communication links with mobile devices in the communication units.

BACKGROUND

Cellular and wireless communication technologies have seen explosivegrowth over the past several years. Wireless service providers now offera wide array of features and services that provide their users withunprecedented levels of access to information, resources andcommunications. To keep pace with these service enhancements, mobileelectronic devices (e.g., cellular phones, tablets, laptops, etc.) havebecome more feature rich, and now commonly include global positioningsystem (GPS) receivers, sensors, and many other components forconnecting users to friends, work, leisure activities and entertainment.However, despite these recent advancements, mobile devices remainlacking in their ability to perform group communications (e.g.,one-to-many, many-to-many, etc.) efficiently and in a user friendlymanner. As mobile devices and technologies continue to grow inpopularity and use, improving group communication capabilities of mobiledevices is expected to become an important and challenging designcriterion for mobile device designers.

SUMMARY

The various embodiments may include methods for performing groupcommunications by receiving, on a mobile device, location informationassociated with a plurality of other mobile devices that are members ofa communication system, determining a location of the mobile device,determining an orientation of the mobile device, determining a relativedistance between the mobile device and each of the plurality of othermobile devices based on the determined location of the mobile device andthe location information received from the plurality of other mobiledevices, determining a relative direction of each of the plurality ofother mobile devices with respect to the determined orientation of themobile device, generating on an electronic display of the mobile deviceimages representative of each of the plurality of other mobile devicesbased on the determined relative distance and the determined relativedirection, receiving a user input on the display, grouping two or moreof the generated images into a communication unit in response to theuser input, and establishing group communications with the communicationunit.

In an embodiment, the method may include associating a direction vectorwith the determined orientation of the mobile device, and identifying atleast one of the plurality of other mobile devices located along thedirection vector, in which generating on an electronic display of themobile device images representative of each of the plurality of othermobile devices based on the determined relative distance and thedetermined relative direction may include generating a first-personperspective display in which only mobile devices in the plurality ofother mobile devices that are located along the direction vector arerepresented by images. In a further embodiment, generating on anelectronic display of the mobile device images representative of each ofthe plurality of other mobile devices based on the determined relativedistance and the determined relative direction may include generatingthe images in sizes indicative of the determined relative distance andthe determined relative direction.

In a further embodiment, the method may include determining whether themobile device has changed orientation, associating a new directionvector with the changed orientation of the mobile device, and generatingan updated first-person perspective display in which only mobile devicesin the plurality of other mobile devices located along the new directionvector are represented by an image. In a further embodiment, the mobiledevice may be a member of a communication group and images of devicesthat are members of the communication group are displayed differentlyfrom images of devices that are not members of the communication group.In a further embodiment, the mobile device may be a member of acommunication group and only the images of devices in the communicationgroup are displayed in the first-person perspective display.

The various embodiments may also include methods of generating a displayon a mobile device that is a member of a communication system byincluding receiving location information associated with eachcommunication device in the communication system, determining a locationof the mobile device, determining a distance between the mobile deviceand each communication device in the communication system, generating afirst-person perspective display in which each communication device inthe communication system may be represented by an image based on thedetermined distance between the mobile device and the communicationdevice associated with that image, determining whether the mobile devicehas changed orientation to a horizontal position, and generating atop-down perspective display in which a first icon associated with themobile device appears at a center of the top-down perspective displayand each of the devices may be represented by an image positioned aroundthe first icon associated with the mobile device based on relativepositions of each of the communication device in the communicationsystem.

Further embodiments may include a computing device having a processorconfigured with processor-executable instructions to perform variousoperations corresponding to the methods discussed above.

Further embodiments may include a computing device that may includevarious means for performing functions corresponding to the methodoperations discussed above.

Further embodiments may include a non-transitory processor-readablestorage medium having stored thereon processor-executable instructionsconfigured to cause a processor to perform various operationscorresponding to the method operations discussed above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and constitutepart of this specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments of theinvention, and together with the general description given above and thedetailed description given below, serve to explain the features of theinvention.

FIG. 1 is a communication system block diagram illustrating a cellularcommunication system suitable for use in an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a mobile communication device showing auser interface that may be used in accordance with the variousembodiments.

FIGS. 3A-B are illustrations of a mobile communication device having aninteractive graphical user interface configured to display imagesrepresentative of other mobile devices in a first-person perspectiveaccording to an embodiment.

FIGS. 4A-B are illustrations of a mobile communication device having aninteractive graphical user interface configured to display imagesrepresentative of other mobile devices in a top-down perspectiveaccording to an embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a process flow diagram illustrating an embodiment method forrendering images representative of other mobile devices based on therelative directionality, modularity and/or locations of the devices.

FIG. 6 is a process flow diagram illustrating an embodiment method forupdating images representative of other mobile devices based on changesin the relative directionality, modularity and/or locations of one ormore mobile devices.

FIG. 7 is a process flow diagram illustrating an embodiment method forestablishing group communications with multiple mobile devices based onimages representative of other mobile devices.

FIG. 8 is a component block diagram of a receiver device suitable foruse in an embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a component block diagram of a server device suitable for usein an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The various embodiments will be described in detail with reference tothe accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numberswill be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.References made to particular examples and implementations are forillustrative purposes, and are not intended to limit the scope of theinvention or the claims.

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example,instance, or illustration.” Any implementation described herein as“exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred oradvantageous over other implementations.

The term “computing device” is used generically herein to refer to anyone or all of servers, personal computers, mobile devices, cellulartelephones, tablet computers, laptop computers, netbooks, ultrabooks,palm-top computers, personal data assistants (PDA's), wirelesselectronic mail receivers, multimedia Internet enabled cellulartelephones, Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, wireless gamingcontrollers, and similar personal electronic devices which include aprogrammable processor and communications circuitry for sending andreceiving wireless communication signals.

The terms “mobile device,” “wireless device” and “user equipment” (UE)may be used interchangeably and refer to any one of various cellulartelephones, smart-phones (e.g., iPhone®), personal data assistants(PDA's), palm-top computers, tablet computers (e.g., iPad®), laptopcomputers, wireless electronic mail receivers (e.g., Blackberry®), VoIPphones, multimedia/Internet enabled cellular telephones, gamingconsoles, and similar electronic devices that include a programmableprocessor and are capable of sending and receiving wirelesscommunication signals. While the various aspects are particularly usefulin mobile devices, such as cellular telephones, the aspects aregenerally useful in any computing device that includes communicationscircuitry for sending and receiving wireless communication signals.

As mentioned above, mobile devices remain lacking in their ability toperform group communications efficiently and in a user friendly manner.For example, various existing group communication systems (e.g.,push-to-talk systems) may enable a mobile device to receive informationabout the availability and/or the network addresses of other mobiledevices, but lack the ability to communicate relative and absolutelocation information for use by other mobile devices. Likewise,location-aware mobile software applications (e.g., “Find my Friends” onApple® for iOS 5, Google® Latitude, etc.) may enable a mobile deviceuser to view the geographical position of other mobile devices, but lackthe ability to use such information to perform group-basedcommunications. Moreover, existing location-aware software applicationssimply locate and display the locations of the users on a map, and donot provide a rich and user-friendly interface that enables users toefficiently group users and/or establish communications links withgroups of users. The various embodiments overcome these and otherlimitations of existing solutions by collecting location informationfrom a multiple mobile devices, and displaying the locations of theother mobile devices on an interactive graphical user interface (GUI) ofthe mobile device in a first-person perspective and/or a top-downperspective such that the user may quickly organize the other mobiledevice users into groups and initiate group communications with theother mobile device users or groups of mobile device users.

The various embodiments include methods, devices, and systems forvisually locating and clustering mobile device users into groups, andestablishing group communication links with members in the visuallyidentified groups. Various embodiments may include a mobile deviceconfigured to present a first person perspective user interface thatdisplays the relative locations/positions of other mobile devicesrelative to the location/position of the mobile device. Variousembodiments may include a mobile device configured to present a top-downperspective user interface that displays the relative locations of othermobile devices in multiple directions (e.g., within a diameter) relativeto the location/position of the mobile device.

In an embodiment, a mobile device may be configured to switch into thefirst person perspective when the mobile device is moved into an uprightor vertical position (e.g., perpendicular to the ground, perpendicularto the gradient of the gravity, not parallel to the ground, etc.), andinto the top-down perspective when the mobile device is moved into ahorizontal or laid down position (e.g., parallel to the ground, not in avertical position, etc.). Mobile device users may employ any combinationof the first person perspective and the top-down perspective to locateother mobile device users and initiate group communications with thelocated mobile device users.

The various embodiments may be implemented within a variety ofcommunication systems, such as a cellular telephone network, an exampleof which is illustrated in FIG. 1. A typical cellular telephone network11 includes a plurality of cellular base stations 12 coupled to anetwork operations center 14, which operates to connect voice and datacalls between mobile devices 10 (e.g., mobile phones) and other networkdestinations, such as via telephone land lines (e.g., a POTS network,not shown) and the Internet 7. Communications between the mobile devices10 and the cellular telephone network 11 may be accomplished via two-waywireless communication links 13, such as 4G, 3G, CDMA, TDMA, and othercellular telephone communication technologies. The network 11 may alsoinclude one or more servers 16 coupled to or within the networkoperations center 14 that provide connections to the Internet 7 and/orare used to perform various operations, such as processing the signalsto remove background noise. The network 11 may communicate withgeo-spatial positioning and navigation satellite systems 20 to identifythe geographic position of the mobile devices 10.

FIG. 2 illustrates sample components of a mobile device in the form of asmartphone 202 that may be used with the various embodiments. Thesmartphone 202 may include a speaker 204, user interface elements 206,216, 218 for receiving user inputs, one or more microphones and/ormicrophone arrays 208 for capturing sounds, one or more sensors 209 formonitoring physical conditions (e.g., location, direction, motion,orientation, vibration, pressure, etc.), an antenna 214 for sending andreceiving electromagnetic radiation, a camera 210, an electronic display212, and other well known components (e.g., accelerometer, etc.) ofmodern electronic devices (e.g., electronic personal trainers,smartphones, mobile gaming consoles, etc.). The user interface elements216, 218 (e.g., buttons, icons, etc.) may be implemented as hard keybuttons, soft key buttons, as touch keys, or any other way of receivinguser input. The phone 202 may include a processor and memory forreceiving and executing software applications transmitted from anapplication download server (e.g., Apple® App Store server).

The phone 202 may also include a geo-spatial positioning and navigationsystem. For example, the phone 202 may include a GPS receiver configuredto receive GPS signals from GPS satellites to determine the geographicposition of the phone 202. In various embodiments, the phone 202 mayfurther include other components for determining the geographic positionof the phone 202, such as resources for determining the radio signaldelays (e.g., with respect to cell-phone towers and/or cell sites),performing trilateration and/or multilateration operations, identifyingproximity to known networks (e.g., Bluetooth® networks, WLAN networks,WiFi, etc.), and/or for implementing other known technologies foridentifying a geographic location of a mobile device. The phone 202 mayalso include other sensors/components for collecting other types ofphysical conditions, such as information regarding the user's currentmovements (e.g., whether the user is currently traveling, exercising,stationary, etc.) and the orientation of the phone 202.

Software installed on the phone 202 may communicate (transmit,broadcast, etc.) location information identifying the location of thephone 202 to other mobile devices and/or receive location informationfrom the other mobile devices. In various embodiments, the locationinformation may be communicated to other mobile devices via a directcommunication link between the devices, via broadcast, through a centralserver, or via any other known mobile or wireless communicationtechnologies. The location information may be sent to the other mobiledevices periodically, at set intervals, and/or on demand. The locationinformation may be stored in a memory on the mobile device 202, onanother communication device, on a server, on the Internet (e.g., in“the cloud”), or on any combination thereof.

As mentioned above, existing group communication systems generally lackthe ability to communicate relative and absolute location informationfor use by other mobile devices. Also, existing group communicationsystems and location-aware mobile software applications lack the abilityto use location information to perform group-based communications in auser friendly manner. Various embodiments overcome these and otherlimitations of existing solutions by collecting location informationfrom a multiple mobile devices, and displaying the locations of theother mobile devices on an interactive graphical user interface (GUI) ofthe mobile device that enables the user to quickly organize users intogroups and initiate group communications with a single operation.

In an embodiment, the mobile device may be configured to function as avirtual viewer (or “X-ray” viewer) by, for example, displayingicons/avatars representative of other mobile devices that are positionedalong the direction that the mobile device is facing (e.g., asdetermined by an orientation sensor of the mobile device). The mobiledevice may leverage one or more mobile device sensors (e.g.,accelerometers, etc.) to identify motion and/or changes in the “facingdirection” of the mobile device, and update the interactive graphicaluser interface (GUI) to display avatars of user devices that arepositioned along the new direction that the mobile device is facing. Theinteractive GUI may display the avatars in sizes consistent with therelative distances between the user's mobile device and the other mobiledevices (the displayed avatars of closer mobile devices are larger thanthe displayed avatars of more distant mobile devices). The interactiveGUI may receive user inputs for organizing the displayed avatars intogroups (e.g., by receiving a touch screen input drawing a circle aroundtwo or more avatars, etc.), and for selecting displayed avatars orgroups of avatars (e.g., by touching a displayed avatar or circle). Theselection of a displayed avatar, or group of avatars, may initiatecommunications between the mobile device and other mobile devicescorresponding to the selected avatars or groups.

In an embodiment, the mobile device may be configured to display thelocations of the other mobile devices in a top-down perspective (e.g.,on a two dimensional map, radar screen, etc.), enabling the mobiledevice user to view icons/avatars representative of the other mobiledevices located in multiple directions (e.g., within a diameter) atonce. The mobile device may be configured to enable users to zoom in orout on the interactive GUI to view the other mobile device users overvarious distances, or as being closer or farther away. The interactiveGUI may enable the mobile device user to create communication groups by,for example, drawing circles around multiple avatars or by specifying aradius or diameter within which all other mobile devices are to beselected. The interactive GUI may enable the mobile device user to addor remove members from the groups by, for example, pressing or actuatingicons/avatars representative of the members to be added or removed.

In an embodiment, the mobile device may be configured to switch into thefirst person perspective when the mobile device is moved into an uprightor vertical position (e.g., perpendicular to the ground, perpendicularto the gradient of the gravity, not parallel to the ground, etc.). In anembodiment, the mobile device may be configured to switch into thetop-down perspective when the mobile device is moved into a horizontalor laid down position (e.g., parallel to the ground, not in a verticalposition, etc.). In an embodiment, the mobile device may be configuredto function in both the first-person perspective and top-downperspective. The mobile device may be configured to enable a mobiledevice user to transition between the two perspectives as desired. Forexample, the mobile device may be configured to enable a user to locateother mobile device users in the first-person perspective, and to switchinto the top-down perspective to initiate a group call with the locatedmobile device users.

In an embodiment, the mobile device may be configured to dynamicallyupdate and/or indicate visual representations of mobile devices (e.g.,icons, avatars, etc.) based on updates to mobile device user activitiesand/or statuses (e.g., the user is jogging, traveling in a car,sleeping, busy, available, etc.).

FIGS. 3A-B are illustrations of a mobile device 302 having aninteractive graphical user interface 304 configured to displayicons/avatars 306, 308 representative of other mobile devices physicallylocated in a direction the mobile device is facing (herein “facingdirection”) in a first-person perspective according to an embodiment.FIG. 3A illustrates example content 310 that may be displayed on theinteractive graphical user interface 304 when the mobile device is heldin a vertical position by User A so that User B and User C arephysically located in a facing direction of the mobile device. FIG. 3Billustrates example updates to the displayed content 310 after User Apans the mobile device 302 to the right such that User C is no longerphysically located in the facing direction of the mobile device.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 3A, Users A, B, and C each havemobile devices on or near their person, and the mobile device is held ina vertical position by User A and oriented in the direction of User Band User C. User B is visible to User A's naked eye, whereas User C isbehind a cubical wall. Another user (“Boss”) is not in the facingdirection of the mobile device and not visible to the User A's nakedeye.

The mobile devices of Users B and C may gather and publish locationinformation identifying their physical locations. The mobile device 302may receive the location information published by each of these mobiledevices, and use the received location information to displayavatars/icons 306, 308 that are representative of Users B and C on theinteractive graphical user interface 304. In this manner, the mobiledevice 302 may locate individuals (via their mobile devices) regardlessof whether or not the individuals are visible.

In an embodiment, mobile devices that are members of the groupcommunication system but are not physically located along the directionthat the mobile device is facing (e.g., “Boss”) may be represented by adirectional indicator 312 instead of an avatar. The directionalindicator 312 may point in the direction of the physical location of therepresented mobile device (“Boss”). The size and/or length of thedirectional indicator 312 may be indicative of the relative distancebetween the mobile device 302 and the represented mobile device(“Boss”). The directional indicator 312 may be displayed such that itidentifies a direction in which the mobile device 302 must be panned inorder to view an avatar associated with the represented mobile device.In an embodiment, the directional indicator 312 may identify thedirections of users in special calling groups selected by USER A.

As mentioned above, the interactive graphical user interface 304 of themobile device 302 may display avatars/icons 306, 308 that arerepresentative of mobile devices located along the facing direction ofthe mobile device 302. In various embodiments, the mobile device 302 mayretrieve these icons/avatars 306, 308 from a device memory and/orreceive the icons/avatars 306, 308 from the other mobile devices. In anembodiment, the icons/avatars 306, 308 may be displayed in differentsizes and in different positions on the electronic display. In anembodiment, the icons/avatars 306, 308 may be displayed such that theyare representative of the relative positions, locations, and/ordistances between User A and Users B and C. For example, the interactivegraphical user interface 304 may display a larger avatar for User C anda smaller avatar for User B to indicate that the distance between User Cand User A is less than the distance between User B and User A. In anembodiment, the avatar sizes may be computed on a logarithmic scale sothat users in the group communication system who are extremely far awaymay still be visible on the interactive graphical user interface 304.

In an embodiment, the mobile device 302 may include various sensors(e.g., accelerometers, etc.) for detecting movement, panning, and/orchanges in the orientation or facing direction of the mobile device 302.Information collected from these sensors may be used by the mobiledevice 302 to compute/update one or more directional vectors, which mayinclude information for identifying the position/orientation of themobile device 302 relative to other mobile devices. In an embodiment,the mobile device 302 may be configured to update the direction vectorsand visual outputs in a real-time, continuous, manner. For example, themobile device 302 may be configured such that each time the mobiledevice 302 is panned, a new directional vector is computed and thedisplayed content 310 is updated to include avatars that arerepresentative of user devices physically located along the newlycomputed directional vector.

FIG. 3B illustrates example updates to the displayed content 310 afterUser A pans the mobile device 302 to the right so that User C is nolonger in the facing direction of the mobile device 302. That is, FIG.3B illustrates an example in which the mobile device 302 is held in avertical position by User A in the direction of User B so that User Cand “Boss” are not physically located in the facing direction of themobile device. In the illustrated example of FIG. 3B, the interactivegraphical user interface 304 displays an icon/avatar 306 representativeof User B because User B is still positioned along the facing directionof the mobile device 302. User C and “Boss” are represented bydirectional indicators 314, 316 because User C and “Boss” are notphysically located along the facing direction of the mobile device. Thesize and/or length of the directional indicators 314, 316 may representthe relative distances and/or directions of User C and “Boss.” Forexample, User C may be represented by a shorter directional indicator316 and “Boss” may be represented by a longer directional indicator 314to indicate that User C is physically closer to User A (e.g., indistance, orientation, etc.) than “Boss” is to User A.

As discussed above, various embodiments may include an interactivegraphical user interface 304 configured to display icons, avatars, anddirectional indicators (collectively user images) representative ofusers in a group communication system. The interactive graphical userinterface 304 may display the user images graphically and enable usersto interact with the displayed content 310 to perform groupcommunications. For example, the interactive graphical user interface304 may enable users to grab and drag two or more user images togetherto create groups, draw circles around displayed user images to creategroups, and enable users to initiate group communications by selectinguser images or groups of images. In this manner, the various embodimentsmay simplify the initiation of group communications and/or the selectionof users with which to initiate group communications.

In an embodiment, the interactive graphical user interface 304 may beconfigured to enable users to anchor avatars so that mobile devicescorresponding to the anchored avatars are always represented on theelectronic display of the user's mobile device regardless of the facingdirection of the mobile device. For example, the interactive graphicaluser interface 304 may display the anchored avatars when theircorresponding mobile devices are in the facing direction of the phone,and display directional indicators when their corresponding mobiledevices are not in the facing direction of the phone. The directionalindicators may be displayed such that they are indicative of thedirection to pan the user device to view the anchored avatar.

Various embodiments may be best understood by the following sample usecases associated with the first-person perspective graphical display.

In a first use case, the primary mobile device user may be aconstruction site FOREMAN having two employees USER A and USER B. USER Amay initiate a push-to-talk call with FOREMAN to inquire whereconstruction materials are to be unloaded. FOREMAN may desire that theconstruction materials be unloaded near USER B, but may not be able toview USER B with his naked eye. FOREMAN may pan his/her mobile devicearound the job site until USER B is located, and an avatarrepresentative of USER B may be displayed on the primary mobile device.The displayed avatar may identify how far away USER B is from FOREMANand USER A. FOREMAN may instruct USER A to unload the constructionmaterials in the identified location of USER B. FOREMAN may alsoinstruct USER A to pan USER A's device in the identified direction ofthe USER B to find USER B, and to unload the construction materials inthe vicinity of USER B.

In a second use case, the primary mobile device user may be an officeEMPLOYEE on a company-wide international conference call from his/heroffice in San Diego. EMPLOYEE may recognize that answers to questionsraised during the conference call require the participation of twopeople in a San Francisco office and three people in a China office,none of which are currently participating in the conference call.EMPLOYEE may pan his/her phone North to locate the people in the SanFrancisco office that EMPLOYEE believes are capable of providing answersto the questions raised during the conference call. EMPLOYEE may selectthe identified individuals by tapping on their displayed avatars.Likewise, EMPLOYEE may pan his/her phone down (e.g., towards the ground)to locate the people in the China office, and select the identifiedindividuals by tapping on their displayed avatars. EMPLOYEE may thensend all the selected individuals a group message requesting theirparticipation in a group communication to provide answers to thequestions raised during the conference call. The group message may besent by, for example, tapping on the selected group and pressing a “sendtext” button. Upon receiving responses to the group message, EMPLOYEEmay create a new group that includes the five located individuals (i.e.,two people from San Francisco and two people from China), EMPLOYEE, andother individuals participating in the conference call. EMPLOYEE mayestablish group communication links (e.g., a new teleconference) withthe members in the newly created group by, for example, tapping on theselected group and pressing a “call” button.

In a third use case, the primary mobile device user may be an officeEMPLOYEE that has initiated a conference call with multiple members ofhis/her company. Upon determining that two of the multiple membersparticipating in the conference call should be removed from the call,EMPLOYEE may pan his/her mobile device around to identify the relativelocation of the two participants with respect to the location ofEMPLOYEE. EMPLOYEE may remove the two members from the call by selectingtheir avatars and flicking the selected avatars off the screen. In anembodiment, EMPLOYEE may have (exclusive) privileges for adding and/orremoving members from the call, as may be the case when the EMPLOYEEinitiated the call, the EMPLOYEE is a manager that has been granted suchprivileges, etc.).

In a fourth use case, the primary mobile device user may be an officeWORKER participating in a push-to-talk call initiated by COWORKERlocated on the floor below WORKER. Upon determining that WORKER cannotanswer the questions raised by COWORKER, WORKER may quickly pan theprimary mobile device to identify the physical location of a projectLEADER's office, which the WORKER knows is directly above (i.e., on thefloor above) the WORKER. For example, WORKER may hold the primary mobiledevice up to the fluorescent lights to determine whether LEADER is inhis office. Upon determining that LEADER is in his office (e.g., viaLEADER's avatar being displayed on the screen), WORKER may selectLEADER's avatar, anchor the selected avatar to the screen, pan theprimary mobile device back toward the direction of COWORKER, and dragLEADER's avatar on top of COWORKER to add LEADER to the push-to-talkcall. In response, the primary mobile device may create an ad-hoc groupinvolving COWORKER, LEADER, and WORKER. If WORKER then desires to addadditional people to the group call, WORKER may drag the additionalperson onto either the image associated with COWORKER or the imageassociated with LEADER to add the additional person to the call.

In a fourth use case, the primary mobile device user may be a CHILD thathas become separated from his/her PARENT. CHILD may select an option onthe interactive graphical user interface of the primary mobile device tofilter the displayed avatar such that only avatars corresponding tomobile devices in the “family group” are displayed. CHILD may slowlywave the primary mobile device around until PARENT is located. As CHILDmoves in the direction of PARENT, the primary mobile device may enlargethe avatar corresponding to PARENT. Similarly, as CHILD moves away fromPARENT, the primary mobile device may reduce the size of the avatarcorresponding to PARENT.

In a fifth use case, the primary mobile device user may be a USERattending a concert with a FRIEND. USER may point the primary mobiledevice at FRIEND to view an avatar corresponding to FRIEND. USER mayanchor the avatar corresponding to FRIEND (e.g., by pressing FRIEND'savatar for a couple seconds to bring up an options menu) such that theprimary mobile device always displays the location of FRIEND's mobiledevice regardless of the facing direction of the primary mobile device.As USER moves around the concert hall, USER may view an arrow orindication pointing in the direction of FRIEND so that USER can quicklypan over to that direction to find FRIEND.

In a sixth use case, the primary mobile device user may be an officeEMPLOYEE on a company-wide international conference call from his/heroffice in San Diego. EMPLOYEE may recognize that answers to questionsraised during the conference call require the participation of twopeople in a San Francisco office and three people in a China office,none of which are currently participating in the conference call.EMPLOYEE may pan his/her phone North to locate the people in the SanFrancisco office that EMPLOYEE believes are capable of providing answersto the questions raised during the conference call. EMPLOYEE may selectthe identified individuals by tapping on their displayed avatars.Likewise, EMPLOYEE may pan his/her phone down (e.g., towards the ground)to locate the people in the China office, and select the identifiedindividuals by tapping on their displayed avatars. EMPLOYEE may create anew group that includes the five located individuals (i.e., two peoplefrom San Francisco and two people from China), EMPLOYEE, and otherindividuals participating in the conference call. EMPLOYEE may establishgroup communication links (e.g., a new teleconference) with the membersin the newly created group by, for example, tapping on the selectedgroup and pressing a “call” button.

As mentioned above, in an embodiment, the mobile device may beconfigured to display the locations of the other mobile devices in atop-down perspective (e.g., on a two dimensional map, etc.) that enablesthe mobile device user to view icons/avatars representative of the othermobile devices located in multiple directions (e.g., within a diameter)at once. The top-down perspective also enables users to quicklyestablish/identify their position relative to other users.

FIGS. 4A-B are illustrations of a mobile device 302 having aninteractive graphical user interface 304 configured to displayinformation in a top-down perspective according to an embodiment. In theexamples illustrated in FIGS. 4A-B, the mobile device 302 may beconfigured to receive location information published by other mobiledevices, and use the received location information to displayavatars/icons 306, 308 that are representative of the physical locationsof the other mobile devices on the interactive graphical user interface304.

FIG. 4A illustrates that the interactive graphical user interface 304may display icons 306, 308 representative of other participating mobiledevice users within a configurable radius or diameter of the primarymobile device 302. An icon 402 representative of the primary mobiledevice 302 may be displayed in the center of the screen, and icons 306,308 associated with other mobile devices may be displayed such that theyidentify the relative distances and directions between the primarymobile device 302 and the other mobile devices. Users may zoom in or outto view smaller or larger geographic areas. The user icons 306, 308 maybe superimposed onto a raster map, such as Google® maps. The icons 306,308 may display different attributes for their associated mobile devicesand/or mobile device users. As an example, the icons may identify howimportant the person is to the conversation. As another example, iconsassociated with mobile devices in an “available” state may be coloreddifferently than icons 404 associated with user devices in a “Do NotDisturb” state. In an embodiment, the sizes of the rendered icons may becomputed on a logarithmic scale so that users in the group communicationsystem who are extremely far away may still be visible on the display.

In an embodiment, the mobile device 302 may be configured to usemovement information collected from device sensors (e.g., anaccelerometer) to compute directional vectors and update the displayedicons 306, 308 based on the current location, orientation, and/ordirection of the mobile device 302. The mobile device may be configuredto enable users to select groups of users with which they desire toperform group communications by, for example, drawing a circle 406around two or more icons 306, 308.

FIG. 4B illustrates an interactive graphical user interface 304configured to receive user input for creating communication groups inaccordance with various embodiments. As mentioned above, the mobiledevice may be configured to enable users to create and select groups ofusers with which to initiate a group communication session. A user maycreate groups of users by, for example, drawing circles 406 aroundmultiple icons/avatars or by specifying a radius or diameter withinwhich devices are to be selected. FIG. 4B illustrates that the circles406 may be expanded or collapsed to include all mobile devices within ageographic area.

Various embodiments may be best understood by the following sample usecases associated with the top-down perspective graphical display.

In a first top-down perspective use case, the primary mobile device usermay be a WORKER whose office is within a few hundred feet of multipleCOWORKERS. The interactive graphical user interface of the primarymobile device may display an icon representing WORKER in the middle ofthe screen, and icons representing each of multiple COWORKERS inproximity to WORKER. Each of the multiple COWORKERS may have set astatus (e.g., “Busy,” “Available,” etc.) that is displayed on theprimary mobile device, either as a modification to the user icons (e.g.,red to represent busy, green to represent available, etc.) or inaddition to the displayed icon (e.g., text above or below the icon,etc.). WORKER may pinch the screen to draw a circle around WORKER's twoclosest COWORKERS whose status is set to “available,” and establish agroup communication with the selected COWORKERS.

In a second top-down perspective use case, the primary mobile deviceuser may be a USER standing near the organ pavilion in Balboa Parkwaiting for the other members of USER's flash mob to arrive. USER maycheck the primary mobile device to determine that there are only threeother people in Balboa Park. USER may zoom out to determine whetherthere are others still on their way. USER may pinch the screen to createa circle that represents a radius of about 200 feet, and then pinch thescreen to create another circle to create a radius of 1,000 feet. USERmay send a group communication message to each mobile device within thetwo circles, notifying them that the dance will start in two minutes andthat they need to hurry. USER may monitor the electronic display of theprimary mobile device to determine whether the recipients of the groupcommunication message are traveling toward USER's icon and/or if theyare likely to reach USER in time for the dance. This may be achieved byviewing the location of the icons relative to the first and secondcircles.

In a third top-down perspective use case, the primary mobile device usermay be a STUDENT in a dining hall who has just secured a dining tableafter a lengthy wait. STUDENT may check the primary mobile device todetermine whether any of his/her friends are entering the dining halland/or are within the vicinity of the dining hall. STUDENT may select anicon of FIRST FRIEND, and drag the selected icon over an icon of aSECOND FRIEND to initiate a 3-way call with the selected friends (i.e.,to inform them he has a table). During the 3-way call, the iconsassociated with FIRST FRIEND and SECOND FRIEND may be altered (e.g.,collage of the two images, etc.) to indicate that they are in a groupcall.

In a fourth top-down perspective use case, the primary mobile deviceuser may be a USER participating in a group call initiated by anORIGINATOR by selecting a circled group of icons. The circle ofparticipants may be communicated to, and displayed on, the primarymobile device. USER, having an urgent matter to discuss with anotheruser not participating in the group call, may inform the participants ofthe group call that USER will be right back, pan the primary mobiledevice to locate the non-participating user, and click on an iconcorresponding to the non-participating user to initiate a direct call.The initiation of the direct call from the primary mobile device mayautomatically disconnect the previous group call. However, the outlineof the circled group of icons representing the participants of the groupcall may remain active and/or displayed as long as the call continues.After conversing with the non-participating user, USER may select thecircled group of icons displayed on the primary mobile device to rejointhe group call.

In a fifth top-down perspective use case, the primary mobile device usermay be a USER participating in an important meeting. USER may update thestatus of the primary mobile device by selecting USER's icon andtoggling a status to “Busy.” At the conclusion of the meeting, USER mayagain select USER's icon and move to the next state, such as “Do NotDisturb” or “Available.”

In various embodiments, the directionality and modularity of users orgroups of users relative to a primary user may be used to modify theoperations of a mobile device. In an embodiment, the relative locationsof the icons may be determined based on factors other than physicallocation, such as the importance of an individual to a groupconversation, the individual's rank, the individual's logisticalrelationship to the group, or the individual's functional associationwith the group.

FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment method 500 for rendering imagesrepresentative of other mobile devices based on the relativedirectionality, modularity, and/or locations of the devices. In block502, a mobile device may receive location information from other mobiledevices in the communications network. In block 504, the mobile devicemay use the received location information to determine the physical orgeographical location of the other mobile devices. In block 506, themobile device may determine its current location and orientation. Inblock 508, the mobile device may compute distances between the currentlocation of the mobile device and the determined locations of the othermobile devices. In block 510, the mobile device may identify thedirections to each of the other mobile devices relative to theorientation of the mobile device. In block 512, the mobile device mayrender images representative of the other mobile devices based on thecomputed distances and identified orientations.

FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment method 600 for updating imagesrepresentative of other mobile devices based on changes in the relativedirectionality, modularity and/or locations of one or more mobiledevices. In block 602, the mobile device may identify changes in thecurrent location and/or orientation of the mobile device. In block 604,the mobile device may compute a directional vector based on theidentified location and/or orientation of the mobile device. In block606, the mobile device may identify other mobile devices that arelocated along the computed directional vector. In block 608, the mobiledevice may update the display by rendering images for the other mobiledevice based on their proximity to the computed directional vector.

FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment method 700 for establishing groupcommunications with multiple mobile devices based on imagesrepresentative of other mobile devices. In block 702, the mobile devicemay receive user input grouping other mobile device users into groupcommunication units. In block 704, the mobile device may receive userinput selecting at least one communication unit. In block 706, themobile device may receive user input for initiating a groupcommunication with mobile device users in the selected communicationunit. In block 708, the mobile device may establish communication linkswith each mobile device in the selected communication units.

Various embodiments may include generating a display on a mobile devicethat is a member of a group communication system by receiving locationinformation associated with each of the devices in the communicationsystem, determining the location of the mobile device, determining adistance between the mobile device and each device, and generating afirst-person perspective display. Each of the devices may be representedby an image (e.g., icon, avatar, etc.). The size of each image may bebased on the determined distance between the mobile device and thatimage's associated device. The mobile device may associate a directionvector with the orientation of the mobile device and identify deviceslocated along the direction vector. In an embodiment, only the deviceslocated along the direction vector may be represented by an image on themobile device screen.

In an embodiment, the mobile device may be configured to determinewhether the mobile device has changed orientation, in which case themobile device may associate a new direction vector with the changedorientation and generate an updated first-person perspective display inwhich only the devices located along the new direction vector arerepresented by an image. In an embodiment, the images of mobile devicesthat are members of the communication group may be displayed differentlyfrom images of devices that are not members of the communication group.In an embodiment, only the images of devices in the communication groupmay be displayed in the first-person perspective. In an embodiment, themobile device may be configured to receive an indication of a selectionof an image, and initiate a communication between the mobile device andthe device associated with the selected image.

Various embodiments may include methods for generating a display on aprimary mobile device that is a member of a communication system byreceiving location information associated with each of the other mobiledevices in the communication system, determining the location of theprimary mobile device, determining a distance between the primary mobiledevice and each of the other mobile devices, and generating a top-downperspective display in which an image associated with the primary mobiledevice appears at the center of the screen. Each of the other mobiledevices may be represented by an image positioned around the image ofthe primary mobile device based on their relative locations and/orpositions with respect to the primary mobile device.

In an embodiment, the primary mobile device may be a member of acommunication group. The images of the other mobile devices that aremembers of the communication group may be displayed differently fromimages of mobile devices that are not members of the communicationgroup. In an embodiment, only the images associated with devices in thecommunication group may be displayed in the top-down perspective. In anembodiment, the mobile device may be configured to receive a user inputselecting a group of images (e.g., a drag of a finger in a circle on thedisplay encompassing the group of images), and initiate a groupcommunication between the primary mobile device and devices associatedwith the selected group of images. In an embodiment, the indication maybe a circle drawn on the display of the mobile device.

Various embodiments may include methods for generating a display on amobile device that is a member of a communication system by receivinglocation information associated with each of the devices in thecommunication system, determining the location of the mobile device,determining a distance between the mobile device and each device,generating a first-person perspective display in which each of thedevices may be represented by an image having a size representative ofthe distance between the mobile device and that avatar's associateddevice, determining that the mobile device has changed orientation to ahorizontal position, and generating a top-down perspective display inwhich an icon associated with the mobile device appears at the center ofthe top-down perspective display. Each of the other mobile devices maybe represented by an icon positioned on the display based on theirrelative positions with respect to the mobile device.

The various embodiments may be implemented on a variety of mobilecomputing devices, an example of which is illustrated in FIG. 8.Specifically, FIG. 8 is a system block diagram of a mobile device in theform of a phone/smartphone suitable for use with any of the embodiments.A smartphone 800 may include a processor 801 coupled to internal memory802, a display 803, and to a speaker 854. Additionally, the smartphone800 may include an antenna 804 for sending and receiving electromagneticradiation that may be connected to a wireless data link and/or cellulartelephone transceiver 805 coupled to the processor 801. Smartphones 800typically also include menu selection buttons or rocker switches 808 forreceiving user inputs.

A typical smartphone 800 also includes a sound encoding/decoding (CODEC)circuit 824 which digitizes sound received from a microphone into datapackets suitable for wireless transmission and decodes received sounddata packets to generate analog signals that are provided to the speaker854 to generate sound. Also, one or more of the processor 801, wirelesstransceiver 805 and CODEC 824 may include a digital signal processor(DSP) circuit (not shown separately). Processing of stored sound togenerate filtering criteria may be accomplished by one or more DSPcircuits within the components of the smartphone 800 using signalanalysis methods is well known in the DSP arts. Also, the application offiltering criteria to suppress undesirable sounds and/or enhancedesirable sounds may be accomplished by one or more DSP circuits withinthe components of the smartphone 800 and/or within the CODEC 824.

Various embodiments may be implemented on any of a variety ofcommercially available server devices, such as the server 900illustrated in FIG. 9. Such a server 900 typically includes a processor901 coupled to volatile memory 902 and a large capacity nonvolatilememory, such as a disk drive 903. The server 900 may also include afloppy disc drive, compact disc (CD) or DVD disc drive 906 coupled tothe processor 901. The server 900 may also include network access ports904 coupled to the processor 901 for establishing data connections witha network 905, such as a local area network coupled to other broadcastsystem computers and servers.

The processors 801, 901 may be any programmable microprocessor,microcomputer or multiple processor chip or chips that can be configuredby software instructions (applications) to perform a variety offunctions, including the functions of the various embodiments describedbelow. In some mobile receiver devices, multiple processors 901 may beprovided, such as one processor dedicated to wireless communicationfunctions and one processor dedicated to running other applications.Typically, software applications may be stored in the internal memory802, 902, 903 before they are accessed and loaded into the processor801, 901. The processor 801, 901 may include internal memory sufficientto store the application software instructions.

The foregoing method descriptions and the process flow diagrams areprovided merely as illustrative examples and are not intended to requireor imply that the steps of the various embodiments must be performed inthe order presented. As will be appreciated by one of skill in the artthe order of steps in the foregoing embodiments may be performed in anyorder. Words such as “thereafter,” “then,” “next,” etc. are not intendedto limit the order of the steps; these words are simply used to guidethe reader through the description of the methods. Further, anyreference to claim elements in the singular, for example, using thearticles “a,” “an” or “the” is not to be construed as limiting theelement to the singular.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, andalgorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosedherein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, orcombinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability ofhardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules,circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms oftheir functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented ashardware or software depends upon the particular application and designconstraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans mayimplement the described functionality in varying ways for eachparticular application, but such implementation decisions should not beinterpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the presentinvention.

The hardware used to implement the various illustrative logics, logicalblocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspectsdisclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purposeprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) orother programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic,discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed toperform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor maybe a microprocessor, but, in the alternative, the processor may be anyconventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. Aprocessor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices,e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality ofmicroprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSPcore, or any other such configuration. Alternatively, some steps ormethods may be performed by circuitry that is specific to a givenfunction.

In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described may beimplemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.If implemented in software, the functions may be stored as one or moreinstructions or code on a non-transitory computer-readable medium ornon-transitory processor-readable medium. The steps of a method oralgorithm disclosed herein may be embodied in a processor-executablesoftware module which may reside on a non-transitory computer-readableor processor-readable storage medium. Non-transitory computer-readableor processor-readable storage media may be any storage media that may beaccessed by a computer or a processor. By way of example but notlimitation, such non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readablemedia may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, FLASH memory, CD-ROM or otheroptical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storagedevices, or any other medium that may be used to store desired programcode in the form of instructions or data structures and that may beaccessed by a computer. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compactdisc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD),floppy disk, and blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce datamagnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers.Combinations of the above are also included within the scope ofnon-transitory computer-readable and processor-readable media.Additionally, the operations of a method or algorithm may reside as oneor any combination or set of codes and/or instructions on anon-transitory processor-readable medium and/or computer-readablemedium, which may be incorporated into a computer program product.

The preceding description of the disclosed embodiments is provided toenable any person skilled in the art to make or use the presentinvention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readilyapparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles definedherein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from thespirit or scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is notintended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to beaccorded the widest scope consistent with the following claims and theprinciples and novel features disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for performing group communicationscomprising: receiving on a mobile device location information associatedwith a plurality of other mobile devices that are members of acommunication system; determining a location of the mobile device;determining an orientation of the mobile device; determining a relativedistance between the mobile device and each of the plurality of othermobile devices based on the determined location of the mobile device andthe location information received from the plurality of other mobiledevices; determining a relative direction of each of the plurality ofother mobile devices with respect to the determined orientation of themobile device; generating on an electronic display of the mobile deviceimages representative of each of the plurality of other mobile devicesbased on the determined relative distance and the determined relativedirection; receiving a user input via the electronic display; groupingtwo or more of the generated images into a communication unit inresponse to the received user input; and establishing groupcommunications with the communication unit.
 2. The method of claim 1,further comprising: associating a direction vector with the determinedorientation of the mobile device; and identifying at least one of theplurality of other mobile devices located along the direction vector,wherein generating on an electronic display of the mobile device imagesrepresentative of each of the plurality of other mobile devices based onthe determined relative distance and the determined relative directioncomprises generating a first-person perspective display in which onlymobile devices in the plurality of other mobile devices that are locatedalong the direction vector are represented by images.
 3. The method ofclaim 2, wherein generating on an electronic display of the mobiledevice images representative of each of the plurality of other mobiledevices based on the determined relative distance and the determinedrelative direction comprises generating the images in sizes indicativeof the determined relative distance and the determined relativedirection.
 4. The method of claim 2, further comprising: determiningwhether the mobile device has changed orientation; associating a newdirection vector with the changed orientation of the mobile device; andgenerating an updated first-person perspective display in which onlymobile devices in the plurality of other mobile devices located alongthe new direction vector are represented by an image.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the mobile device is a member of a communication groupand images of devices that are members of the communication group aredisplayed differently from images of devices that are not members of thecommunication group.
 6. The method of claim 2, wherein the mobile deviceis a member of a communication group and only the images of devices inthe communication group are displayed in the first-person perspectivedisplay.
 7. A computing device, comprising: means for receiving locationinformation associated with a plurality of mobile devices that aremembers of a communication system; means for determining a location ofthe computing device; means for determining an orientation of thecomputing device; means for determining a relative distance between thecomputing device and each of the plurality of mobile devices based onthe determined location of the computing device and the locationinformation received from the plurality of mobile devices; means fordetermining a relative direction of each of the plurality of mobiledevices with respect to the determined orientation of the computingdevice; means for generating images representative of each of theplurality of mobile devices based on the determined relative distanceand the determined relative direction; means for receiving a user inputvia the electronic display; means for grouping two or more of thegenerated images into a communication unit in response to the receiveduser input; and means for establishing group communications with thecommunication unit.
 8. The computing device of claim 7, furthercomprising: means for associating a direction vector with the determinedorientation of the computing device; and means for identifying at leastone of the plurality of mobile devices located along the directionvector, wherein means for generating images representative of each ofthe plurality of mobile devices based on the determined relativedistance and the determined relative direction comprises generating afirst-person perspective display in which only devices located along thedirection vector are represented by images.
 9. The computing device ofclaim 8, wherein means for generating images representative of each ofthe plurality of mobile devices based on the determined relativedistance and the determined relative direction comprises means forgenerating the images in sizes indicative of the determined relativedistance and the determined relative direction.
 10. The computing deviceof claim 8, further comprising: means for determining whether thecomputing device has changed orientation; means for associating a newdirection vector with the changed orientation of the computing device;and means for generating an updated first-person perspective display inwhich only devices located along the new direction vector arerepresented by an image.
 11. The computing device of claim 7, furthercomprising means for associating the computing device with acommunication group, wherein means for generating images representativeof each of the plurality of mobile devices based on the determinedrelative distance and the determined relative direction comprises meansfor displaying images of devices that are members of the communicationgroup differently from images of devices that are not members of thecommunication group.
 12. The computing device of claim 8, furthercomprising means for associating the computing device with acommunication group, wherein means for generating a first-personperspective display in which only devices located along the directionvector are represented by images comprises means for generating thefirst-person perspective display such that only the images of devices inthe communication group are represented by images.
 13. A computingdevice, comprising: a transceiver; a memory; and a processor coupled tothe transceiver and the memory, wherein the processor is configured withprocessor-executable instructions to perform operations comprising:receiving location information associated with a plurality of mobiledevices that are members of a communication system; determining alocation of the computing device; determining an orientation of thecomputing device; determining a relative distance between the computingdevice and each of the plurality of mobile devices based on thedetermined location of the computing device and the location informationreceived from the plurality of mobile devices; determining a relativedirection of each of the plurality of mobile devices with respect to thedetermined orientation of the computing device; generating imagesrepresentative of each of the plurality of mobile devices based on thedetermined relative distance and the determined relative direction;receiving a user input via the electronic display; grouping two or moreof the generated images into a communication unit in response to thereceived user input; and establishing group communications with thecommunication unit.
 14. The computing device of claim 13, wherein theprocessor is configured with processor-executable instructions toperform operations further comprising: associating a direction vectorwith the determined orientation of the computing device; and identifyingat least one of the plurality of mobile devices located along thedirection vector, and wherein the processor is configured withprocessor-executable instructions such that generating imagesrepresentative of each of the plurality of mobile devices based on thedetermined relative distance and the determined relative directioncomprises generating a first-person perspective display in which onlymobile devices of the plurality of mobile devices that are located alongthe direction vector are represented by images.
 15. The computing deviceof claim 14, wherein the processor is configured withprocessor-executable instructions such that generating imagesrepresentative of each of the plurality of mobile devices based on thedetermined relative distance and the determined relative directioncomprises generating the images in sizes indicative of the determinedrelative distance and the determined relative direction.
 16. Thecomputing device of claim 14, wherein the processor is configured withprocessor-executable instructions to perform operations furthercomprising: determining whether the computing device has changedorientation; associating a new direction vector with the changedorientation of the computing device; and generating an updatedfirst-person perspective display in which only mobile devices of theplurality of mobile devices that are located along the new directionvector are represented by an image.
 17. The computing device of claim13, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executableinstructions to perform operations further comprising associating thecomputing device with a communication group, and wherein the processoris configured with processor-executable instructions such thatgenerating images representative of each of the plurality of mobiledevices based on the determined relative distance and the determinedrelative direction comprises displaying images of devices that aremembers of the communication group differently from images of devicesthat are not members of the communication group.
 18. The computingdevice of claim 14, wherein the processor is configured withprocessor-executable instructions to perform operations furthercomprising associating the computing device with a communication group,and wherein the processor is configured with processor-executableinstructions such that generating a first-person perspective display inwhich only mobile devices of the plurality of mobile devices that arelocated along the direction vector are represented by images comprisesgenerating the first-person perspective display such that only theimages of devices in the communication group are displayed in thefirst-person perspective display.
 19. A non-transitory computer readablestorage medium having stored thereon processor-executable softwareinstructions configured to cause a processor of a computing device toperform operations comprising: receiving location information associatedwith a plurality of mobile devices that are members of a communicationsystem; determining a location of the computing device; determining anorientation of the computing device; determining a relative distancebetween the computing device and each of the plurality of mobile devicesbased on the determined location of the computing device and thelocation information received from the plurality of mobile devices;determining a relative direction of each of the plurality of mobiledevices with respect to the determined orientation of the computingdevice; generating images representative of each of the plurality ofmobile devices based on the determined relative distance and thedetermined relative direction; receiving a user input via the electronicdisplay; grouping two or more of the generated images into acommunication unit in response to the received user input; andestablishing group communications with the communication unit.
 20. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein thestored processor-executable software instructions are configured tocause a processor of a computing device to perform operations furthercomprising: associating a direction vector with the determinedorientation of the computing device; and identifying at least one of theplurality of mobile devices located along the direction vector, whereinthe stored processor-executable software instructions are configured tocause a processor of a computing device to perform operations such thatgenerating images representative of each of the plurality of mobiledevices based on the determined relative distance and the determinedrelative direction comprises generating a first-person perspectivedisplay in which only mobile devices in the plurality of mobile devicesthat are located along the direction vector are represented by images.21. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 20,wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions areconfigured to cause a processor of a computing device to performoperations such that generating images representative of each of theplurality of mobile devices based on the determined relative distanceand the determined relative direction comprises generating the images insizes indicative of the determined relative distance and the determinedrelative direction.
 22. The non-transitory computer readable storagemedium of claim 20, wherein the stored processor-executable softwareinstructions are configured to cause a processor of a computing deviceto perform operations comprising: determining whether the computingdevice has changed orientation; associating a new direction vector withthe changed orientation of the computing device; and generating anupdated first-person perspective display in which only mobile devices inthe plurality of mobile devices located along the new direction vectorare represented by an image.
 23. The non-transitory computer readablestorage medium of claim 19, wherein the stored processor-executablesoftware instructions are configured to cause a processor of a computingdevice to perform operations further comprising associating thecomputing device with a communication group, and wherein the storedprocessor-executable software instructions are configured to cause aprocessor of a computing device to perform operations such thatgenerating images representative of each of the plurality of mobiledevices based on the determined relative distance and the determinedrelative direction comprises displaying images of devices that aremembers of the communication group differently from images of devicesthat are not members of the communication group.
 24. The non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein the storedprocessor-executable software instructions are configured to cause aprocessor of a computing device to perform operations further comprisingassociating the computing device with a communication group, and whereinthe stored processor-executable software instructions are configured tocause a processor of a computing device to perform operations such thatgenerating a first-person perspective display in which only mobiledevices in the plurality of mobile devices that are located along thedirection vector are represented by images comprises generating thefirst-person perspective display such that only the images of mobiledevices of the plurality of mobile devices that are in the communicationgroup are displayed in the first-person perspective display.
 25. Amethod for generating a display on a mobile device that is a member of acommunication system, comprising: receiving location informationassociated with each communication device in the communication system;determining a location of the mobile device; determining a distancebetween the mobile device and each communication device in thecommunication system; generating a first-person perspective display inwhich each communication device in the communication system isrepresented by an image based on the determined distance between themobile device and the communication device associated with that image;determining whether the mobile device has changed orientation to ahorizontal position; and generating a top-down perspective display inwhich a first icon associated with the mobile device appears at a centerof the top-down perspective display and each of the devices isrepresented by an image positioned around the first icon associated withthe mobile device based on relative positions of each of thecommunication device in the communication system.
 26. A computingdevice, comprising: means for receiving location information associatedwith each communication device in a communication system; means fordetermining a location of the computing device; means for determining adistance between the computing device and each communication device inthe communication system; means for generating a first-personperspective display in which each communication device in thecommunication system is represented by an image based on the determineddistance between the computing device and the communication deviceassociated with that image; means for determining whether the computingdevice has changed orientation to a horizontal position; and means forgenerating a top-down perspective display in which a first iconassociated with the computing device appears at a center of the top-downperspective display and each communication device in the communicationsystem is represented by an image positioned around the first iconassociated with the computing device based on relative positions of eachof the communication device in the communication system.
 27. A computingdevice, comprising: a transceiver; a memory; and a processor coupled tothe transceiver and the memory, wherein the processor is configured withprocessor-executable instructions to perform operations comprising:receiving location information associated with each communication devicein a communication system; determining a location of the computingdevice; determining a distance between the computing device and eachcommunication device in the communication system; generating afirst-person perspective display in which each communication device inthe communication system is represented by an image based on thedetermined distance between the computing device and the communicationdevice associated with that image; determining whether the computingdevice has changed orientation to a horizontal position; and generatinga top-down perspective display in which a first icon associated with thecomputing device appears at a center of the top-down perspective displayand each communication device in the communication system is representedby an image positioned around the first icon associated with thecomputing device based on relative positions of each of thecommunication device in the communication system.
 28. A non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium having stored thereonprocessor-executable software instructions configured to cause aprocessor to perform operations for generating a display on a mobiledevice that is a member of a communication system, comprising: receivinglocation information associated with each communication device in thecommunication system; determining a location of the mobile device;determining a distance between the mobile device and each communicationdevice in the communication system; generating a first-personperspective display in which each communication device in thecommunication system is represented by an image based on the determineddistance between the mobile device and the communication deviceassociated with that image; determining whether the mobile device haschanged orientation to a horizontal position; and generating a top-downperspective display in which a first icon associated with the mobiledevice appears at a center of the top-down perspective display and eachof the devices is represented by an image positioned around the firsticon associated with the mobile device based on relative positions ofeach of the communication device in the communication system.